Tuesday  March 4th  ,  2014

North Atlantic Ocean ,   9 22.0N 57 57.11W

Today's Blog by Peter (Time zone: UTC – 3.0)

One of the topics we have  never covered in our blogs is what we actually do all day when on passage.

We manage the boat by identifying someone to be “On Watch”. There is always someone “on watch”. With 3 people on board one is either “on watch”, “off watch” or “on standby” or ‘on call’  (with 4 people you get 2 off watches).  We run 3 hour watches at night and 4 hours during the day.  Because usually on his own (unless it is getting very bouncy when the standby watch doubles up).  that person is on watch alone he is de facto the “Watch Leader”. The Watch leader’s prime responsibility is to ensure we don’t hit anything and secondly to adjust the sails or course if necessary;  ( ‘Ray’ (the Autopilot) handles most of the steering work, following either the wind or a course).

The first activity of the day is the 02.00  Watch Change.   This involves making a record in the Log Book of details such as where we are, how many miles we have achieved during the watch and then various technical stuff. There is then  the ceremonial handover of the Frog (‘Serendipity – San’ Blog Passim Ed.) and briefing from the outgoing watch leader of the sail configuration and any traffic or weather about.  “Starry night, steady wind, seen nothing, done nothing” is good. “There is a 1.5 mile towing configuration to port.  I have spoken to them and they said they will track behind us but it is looking a bit marginal…” is not something you want to hear. All that great wide ocean they can have and they want to be in the same bit of it as I do -  collision avoidance needed; responsibility; Argh! Stress. (Pass the vallium – Ed). 

05.00:  Next watch change.  Repeat of the 02.00.  Depending on the local time it should soon be starting to get light.

08.00:  Watch change and morning radio net.  Twice daily there is an Oyster World Rally radio net on the SSB (an HF Radio) when each yacht gives its position, wind state and any other newsworthy titbits of information.  The latter includes details of fish caught (or in our case lures lost), breakdowns (in which case there is often advice from the fleet about how to repair it – sometimes even helpful advice) and port / anchorage information from someone who is already there.  With the fleet very well spread out and much of the fleet out of radio range, we, the “Salvador 7”, operate our  own net. (Indeed, even of those seven, there are only five of us at sea, spread out along about 1000 miles of the north coast of South America).

Breakfast is a do-it-yourself affair when you get up though there is usually a pot of tea readily to hand.

11.00  Morning coffee with biscuits

12,00:  Watch change

13.00: Lunch.  Depending on the crewman responsible ,  this can become a culinary competition until it is my turn and we revert to a ham salad roll or wrap.

After lunch it is siesta time, especially so if you were on the 05.00  – 08.00 watch. Note however, that Rudi’s siesta time is “Any time he is not eating and not on watch”.

16.00: Another watch change.  Being a British boat this is also the time for afternoon tea and (chef dependent) homemade cake (or burnt offerings).

18.00:   Happy Hour – Hooray!  Tonight’s Chef is by now getting dinner under way while everyone enjoys a sundowner and nibbles as the sun dives vertically in a blaze of glory into an indigo sea.  The illusive dying green flash has continued to be a myth – though we have now met someone who claims to have seen it when sober! Hmmmm.   

Serendipity’s circumnavigation has been generally westward which means that periodically we have to put the clocks back. If we need to do so, we choose this watch to do it – it does mean someone has 5 hour watch, but it also means a Double Happy Hour! (Hooray! Hooray!)  This is also the time the boat is bedded down for the night.  We like to adopt a conservative sail plan where one person can adjust the sails alone if necessary – the spinnaker, for example, we will only fly overnight on very settled benign conditions because  that needs all hands on deck for a controlled drop.

19.00:  The evening radio net. HF Radio reception  depends on the quality of radio propagation which in turn is dependent on how clearly defined the ionosphere boundary is at the time of broadcast. The more clearly defined etc. …..  In summary, HF radio reception is usually better for the evening call than the morning! That means we can hear people more clearly and from further away so the evening call is generally more interesting.

The call is followed by dinner.  The dinner specification is that it must be able to be served in a bowl and eaten with one implement.  From the fare served up to date this has never proved to be much of a restriction.  Washing up is done by the 02.00 Watch Leader (who is also the guy coming off watch at 20.00) Our boat rules decree that if you cook dinner you don’t wash it up (curiously though, they also decree that if you prepare lunch you clear up your own mess!)

20.00: Start of the night watches.  If the dinner was good this is often a hard watch in which to stay awake so everyone (other, hopefully,  than the Watch Leader)  usually disappears promptly for a few hours’ sleep, especially the person coming on at 23.00. 

23.00:  The final watch change of the day when the outgoing watch leader is all too glad to be going to bed.

Round these milestones the boat,  of course,  has to be navigated and  sailed, progress has to be logged and the various systems have to be managed, faults diagnosed and preferably fixed.  Leisure time is occupied by reading, guitar playing (Rudi), Sudoku (me), crosswords (David –with help from crew preferably called Richard or Terry) and the odd computer game…..

Err…Does  anyone have any hints on how to complete Candy Crush level 125?